Oil cleaner



Feb. 7, 1 928. 1,658,569

G. W. KELLOGG OIL CLEANER Filed July 1925 Patented r OIL CLEANER.

facilitating the formation of motor oil sludge which in cold weather may'etfect a complete stoppage of the oil circulating system. Likewise water, which isone of the chemical products of combustion, will leak YQHlJlOIltll -atntomobile engine to which in improved oil cleaner 2 is shown applie past the pistonsinto the crankcase and dilute the oil therein. In winter time this water by freezing in the circulatingsystem as well as by entering intothe composition of the t motor oilsludgre, beforereferred to, may cause a complete failure in the supply of lubricant with resulting serious injury to the motor.

The object of this invention is to prov1de an oil cleaner which will effectively remove the hull; of the water and dirt, which may find its way into the lubricating 011, thus avoiding the (lllllCllltles above dGSC-flbECl. This cleaner is arranged 1n the c1rculat1ng system so that the entire bodyof oil iscon "tinuously subjected to the cleaning action and consists primarily of a settling chamber through which the oil is circulated, preferably rather slowly, the chamber being formed to provide atortuous path for the passage of the oil between its inlet and outlet andbeing providedwith a sediment trap in thebot-tom thereof from which sediment maybe drawn oil from time to time.

More specifically, I have provided a casing having an oil inlet and an oil outlet and a partition arranged between them so that the stream of oil is forced to take a downward course to clear the partition and then to swing upwardly toward the outlet. I have also preferably so formed the inlet that the oil is projected into the casing in a plurality of line streams at an angle to the direction of flow of the oil in the supply line thereby reducing the rapidity of flow and preventing the formation of strong currents tending to carry oil directly from inlet to outletand thus disturbing the settling action The oil trap to which reference has premote the emulsion of water and oil thus viously been made preferably consists of baflles having downwardly inclined surfaces to facilitate the passage of the heavier impuri ties into-the bottom of the casing.

Referring now to the drawing and the following specification for a more complete description of my invention:

1F l'gure 1 is a side elevation of a convenill) tional automobile engine to which my cleaner is shown applied;

- Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View of th cleaner and Fizgure 3 is a section online 3--3 of Figure' -On the drawing 1 haveillustrat-ed a conll hile=the cleanermay be mounted in a number of different posit-ions in the oil circulating system I have preferred to show it supplied with oil from a pipe 4 leading from the pipeline 6 going to the customary pressure gauge upon thedash. The cleaned oil is returned to the crankcase through the pipe line 8. l

Referring now to the Figuresfl and 3 which show the cleaner in detail 1O inclicates a casing having atop 11 and a tapering bottom 12. At one side of the top is arranged the oil inlet 14L and at the other side the oil outlet 16. I have shown the inlet provided with a sight feeddevice 17,

which may be dispensed with if desired, and

a fitting 18 consisting of-a tube projecting into the casing 10 and having its lower end closed, the tube being provided with a Pinralityof lateral apertures 20 through which oil may pass into the casing 10. These apex tures are preferably rather small.

Between the inletand the outlet l. have arranged a partition 22. In the upper portion of the partition I have provided an aperture '24 to prevent t upping of air or the building up of siphoning action 1n the cleaner.

The sediment trap to which reference has been made, is composed of an inverted coneshapcd member 26 mounted upon the tapering bottom of the casing 10 and spaced therefrom. The apex of the cone preferably extends above the bottom of the partition and is apertured as at 28 to prevent the The trap also formation of an air pocket. includes an annular baffle 30 secured to the casing wall and surrounding the member 2'6, H

a the flow.

this baiile being provided with apertures 32 for the release of air. At the bottom of the casing is a conventional type of drainconsisting of a petcock.

\Vith the construction so far described it will be apparent that oil under pressure from the customary oil pump is supplied to the cleaner through the pipe line 4 and is discharged through the apertures in a number of line streams into the compantively large chamber formed by the partition 22 and the casing 10. The direction of the entering oil is thus changed and its flow into the larger passage results in a reduction in its velocity. The oil now passes below the partition 22, the inclination of the surfaces of the battles 26 and 30 serving to deflect the heavier impurities to the bottom of the casing. The relatively clean oil now passes upwardly into the chamber on the outlet side of the partition 22 whence it may be discharged through the outlet 16. It will be understood that the passage of the oil through the cleaner is very slow so that thereis a constant settling of the impurities to the bottom of the cleaner as long as the oil remains therein. The baflles 26 and 30 in addition to deflecting the sediment to the bottom of the tank and pocketing it there also perform the important function of reducing the agitation of the oil resulting from motion of the vehicle which has a disturbing effect on the settling action.

With the construction as so far described it will be apparent that the separator can be drained by opening the pet cock 34 only when the engine is running for otherwise atmospheric pressure will prevent discharge of the fluid. I have accordingly provided my separator with a vent preferably in the form of a pet cock as shown at'40 to permit draining of the oil when the engine is idle.

I have also shown outlet 16 provided with a needle valve .17. The purpose of this valve is to offer sufiicient resistance to the passage of oil as to serve to even out fluctuations in It also provides a convenient means for regulating the rate of -fiow through the separator.

I claim:

l. An oil cleaner comprising a casing bar ing an inlet and an outlet in the upper portion thereof, a partition arranged between the inlet and the outlet and a sediment trap in the bottom of the casing, said trap comprising a balile having the form of an inverted cone, an annular baflie surrounding said lirst named ballle and spaced therefrom, and a fitting ior said inlet comprising a tube projecting downwardly into the casing and having a closed end, the walls of said tube being provided with a plurality of apertures.

2. An oil cleaner comprising a casing having a tapered bottom and a top provided with an inlet and an outlet, a partition in said casing between said inlet and outlet, and at one side of the center thereot a centrally arranged battle in the bottom of the casing having downwardly inclined sides, an annular balile surroimdingthe first named baflle, the surface of saidannular baflle being likewise downwardly inclined, and a drain for the discharge of sediment from the bottom oi the casing.

y An oil cleaner as defined in claim 2, and a fitting for said oil inlet comprising a tube extending downwardly. from the said inlet having its bottom closed and being provided with a plurality of laterally arranged apertures.

=l. An oil cleaner comprising a casing having an oil inletandan oil outlet, a battle arranged between .said inlet and outlet com polling the oil to pass downwardly and then upwardly in its passage. from the inlet to the outlet, a baille below said partition intersecting the plane of the latter and upwardly inclined in the directionot flow of the oil, and a second inclined bafiie arrangedbelow said inlet and adapted to direct the enteiting oil upon said first named inclined baflle in its passage from the inlet to the outlet.

The. combination as defined in claim 4. y

and a fitting for said inlet adapted to break up the entering stream of oil.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

GEORGE W. Kntnoeel 

